City Council

CITY OF SARATOGA SPRINGS CITY COUNCIL MEETING CITY COUNCIL ROOM TUESDAY DECEMBER 2, 2008 6:40 P.M. PRESENT: Scott Johnson, Mayor John Franck, Commissioner of Accounts Ken Ivins, Commissioner of Finance Ron Kim, Commissioner of DPS Anthony Scirocco, Commissioner of DPW PRESENT: Matthew Veitch, Supervisor Joanne Yepsen, Supervisor STAFF PRESENT: Michele Boxley, Deputy Commissioner, Accounts Eileen Finneran, Deputy Commissioner, DPS Pat Design, Deputy Commissioner, DPW Kate Jarosh, Deputy Commissioner, Finance Shauna Sutton, Deputy Mayor Joe Scala, City Attorney RECORDING OF PROCEEDING The proceedings of this meeting were taped for the benefit of the secretary. Because the minutes are not a verbatim record of the proceedings, the minutes are not a word-for-word transcript. PUBLIC HEARINGS Amend Chapter 225-77 “Stop” Sign on Newton @ Division Mayor Johnson opened the public hearing on the stop sign on Newton @ Division at 6:44 p.m. Patrick Varley of 17 Newton Avenue stated he has a petition from 24 of the Newton Avenue residents who are in favor of the stop sign. Because of the close proximity to the Division Street School and fast moving traffic, the stop sign would solve the problem. He submitted the petition for the record. Richard Vetterick of 8 Newton Avenue stated he supports the installation of the stop sign to keep the speed under control. David Gagnon of 21 Central Avenue stated he also signed the petition. He and his wife both support the stop sign. It is safety hazard not to have a stop sign at that location. It is an accident waiting to happen in that location as cars do pick up speed. Mayor Johnson closed the public hearing at 6:49 p.m. Capital Budget Amendment Mayor Johnson opened the public hearing on capital budget amendment at 6:49 p.m. City Council Meeting 12/2/08 Commissioner Ivins stated the last Council had in their long range plan $8 million dollars for a public safety building. This money was not bonded. For procedural purposes only we have to amend the capital budget to take that money out of the 2008 budget. The approval is still in there so the money can be bonded at a future time if need be. No one spoke. Mayor Johnson closed the public hearing at 7:00 p.m. CALL TO ORDER Mayor Johnson called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD Mayor Johnson said the public comment period is limited to a total of 15 minutes and individuals are limited to two minutes each according to the rules approved in February of 2004 by the City Council. Mayor Johnson opened the public comment period at 7:01 p.m. John Krause of 227 Grand Avenue stated they all are to be congratulated for passing a no tax increase budget. Commissioner Ivins created the way. There are still some loose ends and observations he would like to make. He believed the $120,000 that was offered up by the Accounts Department is a mandate and maybe can’t be used that way. A possible solution might be that the reserve that was established in 2008 this won’t be used will fall into the year end surplus, roll into next year, and restore the $120,000 from there. He was surprised at the final balancing of the budget took $249,000 out of the contingency fund. His understanding was that money was for union contract negotiations. It started about $1.1 million in the contingency fund and you removed $649,000, so the remaining $500,000 may be sufficient according to what you perceive the needs to be. He was surprised the DPW Commissioner waited until the 11th hour to make his plea for additional funding. He is a little concerned that while the DPW Commissioner is getting another $200,000 and $120,000 was offered up by the Accounts Department, nobody specified where the other $80,000 is coming from. Posting these revenue sources in the budget forces a commitment to see that these really happen. You all stepped up to the plate. He believes the County will follow that way also and hold their rate at $2.15. Now we need to have the school district make a contribution. The Governor is going to cut the school aid and the school district should not put that difference on the taxpayers. He suggested that they put out to bid the financial audit. Peter Tulin of 40 Sarazen Street stated that although the Council represents different political parties, he has only heard what a good job they have done; to enact a budget with a 0% tax increase. The general public really likes it when this Council works together. He requests that moving forward, in regards to the High Rock RFP, they keep their minds open when you get to that portion of the agenda. Mayor Johnson closed the public comment period at 7:09 p.m. Executive Session: Discussion regarding proposed, pending or current litigation; personal private information of a person or corporation, or matters leading to the appointment, employment, promotion, demotion, discipline, suspension, dismissal or removal of a person or corporation. Mayor Johnson moved and Commissioner Ivins seconded to adjourn into executive session at 7:10 p.m. Ayes - All The Council meeting resumed at 7:34 p.m. Page 2 of 17 City Council Meeting 12/2/08 Mayor Johnson advised that the Council reached a resolution regarding Mark Glaser vs. the City of Saratoga Springs. A unanimous decision was made to retain Jeff Wait to defend the City in this matter at a rate of $135 per hour up to max of $1,000. CONSENT AGENDA Mayor Scott Johnson moved and Commissioner Ivins seconded to approve the consent agenda as follows: 1. Approval of 11/10/08 Budget Workshop Minutes 2. Approval of 11/10/08 City Council Minutes 3. Approval of 11/18/08 City Council Minutes 4. Approve Budget Amendments 5. Approve Budget Transfers 6. Approve Capital Budget Transfers 7. Approve Payroll 11/21/08 $433,752.13 8. Approve Payroll 11/26/08 $443,857.36 9. Approve Warrant 2008 Mid MC3NOV08 $457,036.71 10. Approve Warrant 2008 Regular 1DEC08 $254,697.06 Commissioner Ivins stated there is one small change to #10. The amount should be $254,697.22. Ayes – All MAYOR’S DEPARTMENT Discussion and Vote: Authorization for Mayor to Enter Into Contract for Professional Legal Services for City of Saratoga Springs Zoning Ordinance Amendment or Recodification Mayor Johnson moved and Commissioner Ivins seconded for the authorization for the Mayor to enter into a contract for professional legal services for the City of Saratoga Springs zoning ordinance amendment or recodification. Mayor Johnson explained this relates to retaining Miller, Mannix, Schachner & Hafner to review of our present zoning ordinance and division regulations for possible revision or redrafting of the ordinance and the regulation. The proposed agreement is at a rate of $140 per hour, which is the same rate that firm has been providing services to the City, from now to the end of 2009 up to a maximum amount of $50,000. We are doing as much as possible in-house with our City Planner. There are a lot of issues in regards to our zoning ordinance. It is inconsistence and confusing and hasn’t been looked at for many years. Making it more user friendly will also increase productivity of City staff and the applicants in the City. Commissioner Ivins asked if this amount was included in his 2009 budget. Mayor Johnson stated this is between the 2008 and 2009 budget. There is about $19,000 in 2008 that was previously transferred for this purpose and the balance of about $38,000 would be part of the 2009 budget and is in the budget as proposed to the Council. Commissioner Ivins verified that the Mayor’ Office is going to encumber the difference. Mayor Johnson advised that was correct. Commissioner Kim stated that he will be voting against this. It has nothing to do with the firm. He feels this is outrageous that we would do this project since we have gone through the budget process with cuts and we are going to do a hiring freeze. This is a nice thing to do but not a necessity. Maybe someday this is the right thing to do, but not this year, not in this budget cycle. Page 3 of 17 City Council Meeting 12/2/08 Mayor Johnson stated this is part of the original budget submitted by his department in September. His department came in about 20% less this year than what was budgeted for 2008 and included this amount to be set aside. Just because we have financial difficulties we don’t stop doing City business. This will lead to more productivity within City Hall. Commissioner Kim stated if that is the case, then it should be quantified. We should state that spending this money, we are going to save ‘X’ amount of dollars. That should be put in front of the public before we approve this contract. Later in the agenda we are going to deal with a hiring freeze which is going to make each of the Commissioners justify why they need to fill a position. Why shouldn’t this be on the same criteria? Mayor Johnson stated he couldn’t agree more. Before they can quantify and determine the savings, they first have to do the analysis. This is what this is going to allow them to do. This does not mean they are going to spend the full $50,000. Commissioner Scirocco stated he has to agree with Commissioner Kim. We put together a budget with a zero percent tax increase. Will this have a positive effect? Is there room for improvement; absolutely. Maybe the Mayor should have offered this up as a savings in his budget. They are under major budget restraints in his department; they are not buying a nail; they are not buying anything. They can’t afford to do anything. He is not supporting this because they should hold the line on any new spending and this is new spending. Commissioner Kim stated the Council approved the registration fees for the apartment inspections. It is new income that is being estimated, but we don’t get that income until 2009. We have to print letters and cards to get this going. We spent an hour today trying to figure out where we are going to get the funds in the 2008 budget to print the cards and the letters we hadn’t budgeted for. His assistant called around to see if they could get this done on credit. Commissioner Ivins suggested tabling this until they can get more savings. It is not just the City it is taxpayers as well who come before the zoning board. There is a savings for those folds. This is one way we can go about helping those folks in tough times, but we may need to do a little investigation. He prefers to table instead of taking a vote and having it turned down. Mayor Johnson stated the issue about tabling it may be the ability to encumber the 2008 money into 2009. If you are comfortable waiting until the next meeting to do that much, then he has no problem. Otherwise he will have to ask for a vote this evening. Commissioner Ivins stated the encumbrance date has already passed. Commissioner Franck stated he would suggest tabling it until the next meeting. He has not had ample time to review this. Mayor Johnson withdrew this item from his agenda at this time. Discussion: High Rock Lot RFPS Mayor Johnson suggested setting a workshop date for the Council between now and Christmas to work out any questions they have regarding the RFPs. Collectively they may have the answers at hand and his way they won’t have to go back and burden the bidders. The workshop was set for Wednesday, December 17th at 7:00 p.m. The meeting is open to the public but there will not be a public comment period. Commissioner Scirocco asked if the proposals are on the website or available to the public. Mayor Johnson advised they are not on the web. Page 4 of 17 City Council Meeting 12/2/08 Commissioner Scirocco stated he believes these proposals should be made available to the public so that when this process is opened to the public, they can comment. They should be at the library or City Hall for the public. Commissioner Franck stated the proposals are in his office and are available to the public for review by appointment. He also stated his concern is from a procurement standpoint. It is important that the Council thoroughly read the proposals before the workshop. There is ample time to have questions ready for the workshop. Asking questions as we go would be in violation of the municipal law as it could prevent competitive bidding. All candidates have to be asked the same questions per section 103-7 of the municipal law. Commissioner Franck read this section of the law as follows: “a person or corporation who conspires to prevent competitive bidding on a contract for public work or purchase advertise for bidding shall be guilty of a misdemeanor as provided in section 103 of this article.” You need to be fair to all 3. The questions may not fit for all 3, but the workshop will take care of this. Commissioner Ivins stated a lot of his questions are proposal specific and unrelated to the other bidders. Commissioner Franck stated that at the time of the workshop the Council can review the questions and make sure they follow Section 103. In no way is he trying to stop the Mayor or any of the Commissioners from getting answers to their questions. Commissioner Scirocco stated there was a lot of discussion in the newspapers about all the proposals and the public should have some way to look at what we have being there is a lot of information out there already. Mayor Johnson stated it is important to remember the RFP is a document that controls this process. What is being discussed procedurally here is something that should have been discussing when putting together the RFP; like specific type of public input. No one here wants to violate the integrity process or open the City up to legal challenges. Commissioner Kim asked that we can’t have a public hearing because it wasn’t put in the RFP. Mayor Johnson clarified that the time to set down the procedure is when you are doing the RFP, not now. The public can always open up to us either individually or during public comment period. Commissioner Kim asked if public comment wasn’t put in the RFP we now can’t do that. Mayor Johnson stated in respect to what they can expect to receive from the bidders, in response to any questions we have should have been set forth in detail in the RFP. Commissioner Kim clarified because the RFP did not state they were or were not going to have public hearings, we are not now saying we can’t have them. Mayor Johnson stated he is not saying that. To allow any direct input in question format between the public and the bidders is totally improper and he would be against that. It would violate the procedure. You can’t control the process that way and you have to control the process to maintain the integrity of the process. Commissioner Franck stated we need to keep it as a fair bidding process. It must be a competitive bid. He is trying to keep consistency and follow processes. Discussion: Lillian’s Lot Purchase Mayor Johnson stated he has had discussions with the purchaser of the lot. He has a contract in hand and it is currently under review. He pulled the minutes from June 2007 when the Council did approve the award of bid on this purchase, it passed by a vote of 3-2. Throughout the minutes there a comments, Page 5 of 17 City Council Meeting 12/2/08 almost uniformly, that the money from the sale of the lot is to be ‘seed’ money to solve parking solutions in the City. Commissioner Scirocco asked where does this leave Commissioner Franck with having given $120,000 from his budget to DPW. Commissioner Franck stated whether or not the money comes directly from the sale of the lot, money will be freed up elsewhere. When it comes to lawsuits, it is by year. Most article 7s is in between what the City has and the complainant has, therefore they have to budget that per year. He is confident they will get the money back. ACCOUNTS DEPARTMENT Discussion and Vote: Rejection of Bid Parapet Repair Station (08-231) Commissioner Franck moved and Commissioner Kim seconded to reject the bid for the parapet repair at fire station #1. Upon the recommendation of the Department of Public Safety, I move to reject the bids received for the repair of the parapet wall at fire station #1. The bids received were significantly higher than the proposed budget for this project. Ayes – All Discussion and Vote: Award of Bid to Bollam, Sheedy, Torani & Co. for Auditing Services Commissioner Franck moved and Commissioner Ivins seconded to award the auditing services bid to Bollam, Sheedy, Torani & Co. Upon the recommendation of the Finance Department, I move to award the bid for auditing services to Bollam, Sheedy, Torani & Co. This is a three year contract and will not exceed $31,500 in 2009, $33,500 in 2010, and $34,500 in 2011. This is the second low bidder and he has asked Commissioner Ivins to explain why they did not award the bid to the lowest bidder. Commissioner Ivins stated because it is professional services they do not need to select the lowestbidder, however, they do try to select the lowest bidder as a savings for the City. The lowest bidder was not selected due to lack of qualifications. To do the project was greatly under estimated the number of hours. If you calculate the number of hours we have seen it take over the number of years and calculate that with the proposed rate, it is very close to actual second award of bid. Also, the low bidder had a lack of a peer review. Commissioner Kim stated he is going to oppose this as we need to look at spending. The difference between the lowest bidder and the second bidder is $44,000 over 3 years. This would fund a position in his department for a year. He agrees low bids aren’t necessarily the only thing to do. He is a solo practitioner and has beaten the pants off very big law firms and the low bidder here is a solo practitioner. We should give this person a shot. Also, the firm we are awarding this to has been doing our audits. He has asked some accountants if we should have uncovered or should we be changing the way we do things because of the alleged fraud in DPW. They didn’t uncover it; only a police investigation uncovered the full fraud. Also, they were late in reporting their audit, so he would give the little guy a chance. He is a solo practitioner and beats the pants of big firms all the time in his practice. Commissioner Ivins stated they weren’t late, that is standard procedure. We did not pay for that type of in depth audit to find fraud. This bidder is estimating the job is going to take them about a third less hours than any of the other proposals. He is only going to bill us for the actual time spent. Bollam and Sheedy knows what kind of time it takes, therefore has given us the most realistic bid. The low bidder stated he does not have insurance, which automatically disqualifies him. Page 6 of 17 City Council Meeting 12/2/08 Commissioner Kim stated the form he got today states they are all missing insurance. Commissioner Ivins thought he had seen the insurance on some of them. The lowest bidder did say he didn’t have the insurance but would get it. He is happy to table this to the next meeting so that he can look into the insurance. If we want someone to come in and audit our systems up and down like that, it is going to cost a lot more money. These are general overall audits to look for general trends; these are not audits to look for specific cases like fraud. Commissioner Franck stated he would talk to the accountants Commissioner Kim spoke with because this is auditing 101. It is stated clearly in the auditing letter that they are not there to detect fraud; this is not a forensic accountant. Could they have caught this, maybe. He has no problem giving it to this gentleman. The reason he doesn’t have a peer review is because he just went out on his own. Solo proprietors don’t do these audits because the liability is so high. When he looked at this man’s proposal he had set hours with his fee and his hours were considerably less. It is going to be the same because he is going to hit these hours anyway. He would like the audit earlier. One of the reasons it was late was because the former Mayor had done a purchasing audit. It is not unusual to get the audit in the fall of the year if it is a calendar year. Commissioner Franck stated he thought we should table it and look at the insurance. Audits should look exactly the same, other than the letterhead, so it should be price driven. He asked that question of Commissioner Ivins today and he gave very good reason of what the difference was. Commissioner Ivins recommended that Commissioner Franck pull this item. Commissioner Franck pulled this item from his agenda. Discussion and Vote: Award of Bid to Overhead Door of Glens Falls for the Overhead Doors at Fire Station #2 (08-232) Commissioner Franck moved and Commissioner Kim seconded to award the overhead door bid at fire station #2 to Overhead Door of Glens Falls. Upon the recommendation of the Department of Public Safety, I move to award the bid for the overhead doors at fire station #2 to the low bidder, Overhead Door of Glens Falls, in the amount of $9,495.00. Ayes – All Discussion and Vote: Rejection of Bid Paving and Sidewalks at Fire Stations #1 & #2 (08-233) Commissioner Franck moved and Commissioner Ivins seconded to reject the bid for paving and sidewalks at fire stations #1 & #2. Upon the recommendation of the Department of Public Safety, I move to reject the bids received for paving and sidewalk work at fire stations #1 & #2. The bids received were significantly higher than the proposed budget for this project. Ayes – All Discussion and Vote: Rejection of Bid Heating and Air Conditioning at Fire Station #2 (08-234) Commissioner Franck moved and Commissioner Scirocco seconded to reject the bid for the heating and air conditioning at fire station #2. Upon the recommendation of the Department of Public Safety, I move to reject the bid received for heating and air conditioning at fire station #2. The bid received was significantly higher than the proposed budget for this project. Page 7 of 17 City Council Meeting 12/2/08 Ayes – All Discussion and Vote: Rejection of Bid Main Door at Fire Station #1 (08-235) Commissioner Franck moved and Commissioner Kim seconded to reject the bid for the main doors at fire station #1. Upon the recommendation of the Department of Public Safety, I move to reject the bid received for the main doors at fire station #1. The bid received was significantly higher than the proposed budget for this project. Ayes – All FINANCE DEPARTMENT Discussion and Vote: Adopt 2009 Departmental Fees (08-236) Commission er Ivins moved and Mayor Johnson seconded to adopt the departmental fees for 2009 as presented. Commissioner Ivins stated this is an annual event but can raise them at a later date in 2009. Most of the Council kept their fees at the current level, so he hopes everyone will consider looking at those at a later date to see what rates are appropriate so that we can find other revenue resources. He noticed Commissioner Scirocco lowered the Casino rates a little and people are booking into 2009. The Council tries to approve a 2 year set of rates so that those booking 2 years out pay a different rate than those who do for this year. He asked Commissioner Scirocco if he had plans to come forth with 2010 rates for Casino rentals. Commissioner Scirocco doesn’t feel the rates are where they need to be, however, given the economic situation, he doesn’t want to raise them at this time. The place is a cash cow for the City and we want to keep it rented, so they haven’t done anything. Also, the compost fees and the delivery fees were raised this year. Commissioner Kim stated there some discussion today that there still may be some question regarding the freedom of information act requests in regards to the fees for accident reports. The question was how much time or how much we could charge. Tony Izzo stated the amendments to the law was section 87 of the Public Officer’s Law and creates some new criteria for certain classifications of records that take more than 2 hours to review. It may just be reviewing that and seeing how we apply it to the situation we discussed before. Commissioner Kim asked if they were still good to charge $15 for an accident report. Tony Izzo stated if it complies with the terms and conditions of the law, then you are obeying the law. Commissioner Ivins turned to Commissioner Scirocco to ask a question regarding the Casino rates. Commissioner Scirocco stated he didn’t lower the rates, he didn’t touch the rates. Commissioner Ivins stated there were rates approved for 2 years and the 2009 rate went down a little bit. Commissioner Scirocco stated the rates stayed the same. These are the rates that were approved by the last City Council. This is the 2008 rates we are talking about here. He stated again he hadn’t touched the rates. Commissioner Ivins clarified that they are approving the 2009 rates right now. Page 8 of 17 City Council Meeting 12/2/08 Commissioner Scirocco agreed that that’s what they are approving, but they hadn’t touched the number. Commissioner Ivins stated the rates just given to them by Commissioner Scirocco are lower than what was adopted by the last Council. Commissioner Scirocco stated he didn’t know where they got those numbers. Commissioner Ivins suggested that they approve this now and he will have his office contact Commissioner Scirocco’s office because if it ends up being lower rates, they have to figure out what they are going to do about those people who have already paid. Ayes – All Discussion and Vote: Amend 2008 Capital Budget – Police Facility (08-237) Commissioner Ivins moved and Commissioner Scirocco seconded the 2008 capital budget amendment for the police facility. Commissioner Ivins stated they are doing administrative work to balance the budget. They are taking out the $8 million dollars that was in the budget for the police station but not bonded. Also, they are reflecting the money that did not come in from the VLT. Commissioner Kim stated he is going to oppose this as it is premature. We have not decided upon one of the proposals. Commissioner Ivins stated we are not eliminating the bonding ability. This is just for the accounting purposes. The Council approved bonding of that so at some point they can put forth a bond for $8 million. Commissioner Kim asked why we are doing this now. Commissioner Ivins stated this is bookkeeping as we are closing out the 2008 books. Commissioner Kim stated he feels they still have a couple meetings where they can make a decision about this prior to making this decision. Commissioner Scirocco confirmed this is not a number the public is being taxed on. Commissioner Ivins stated that was correct. This is just there as a number because the money did not come in from the VLT. If at the next Council meeting we put it back in then it will be reflected in 2009 numbers and put us out of balance for 2009. That bonding would take place then. Commissioner Kim asked how that would put us out of balance if we didn’t spend the money and the money didn’t come in, then it’s a wash. Commissioner Ivins stated this is strictly accounting. We know the money didn’t come in and we know it didn’t get spent. Ayes – 4 Nay – Commissioner Kim Discussion and Vote: DPW Payroll Transfers (08-238) Commissioner Ivins moved and Commissioner Scirocco seconded the DPW payroll transfers. Ayes – All Discussion and Vote: DPS Payroll Transfers (08-239) Page 9 of 17 City Council Meeting 12/2/08 Commissioner Ivins moved and Commissioner Scirocco seconded the DP S payroll transfers. Ayes – All Discussion and Vote: Rail Resolution (08-240) Commissioner Ivins moved and Commissioner Scirocco seconded to approve the resolution for the Rail Resolution. Commissioner Ivins turned the floor over to Supervisor Veitch to explain. Supervisor Veitch stated this is backing the County on a resolution that they passed on November 19th. The County is doing an expansion of the rail yards in Mechanicville, Stillwater and Halfmoon. He thanked the City Council for their support on this. Commissioner Kim asked if the City is spending any money on this. Supervisor Veitch stated the City is not spending anything, nor is the County. Commissioner Ivins read the resolution for the record as follows: A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SARATOGA SPRINGS, NEW YORK WHEREAS, State and Federal transportation officials and others project that United States freight volumes will increase by more than 67 percent over twenty years; and WHEREAS, The Norfolk Southern and Pan Am railway companies have proposed expanding the rail yard located in our neighboring towns of Halfmoon and Stillwater, NY, more commonly known as the Mechanicville Rail yards; and WHEREAS, The Saratoga County Board of Supervisors has passed a resolution supporting bi-partisan legislation introduced in Congress that would create tax incentives to increase investment in freight rail infrastructure; and WHEREAS, the City of Saratoga Springs understands the public benefit of expanding all types of rail infrastructure, both economically and environmentally; NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED as follows: 1. This Council understands the benefit to both the City and County that the expansion of the Mechanicville Rail yards will have, both with increased tax revenue and job creation. 2. This Council supports the Saratoga County Board of Supervisors in its efforts to improve rail infrastructure within Saratoga County. NOW BE IT ALSO RESOLVED: 1. That a copy of this Resolution, suitably engrossed, be transmitted to the Chairman of the Board of Supervisors of Saratoga County and all Supervisors, the Representative of the House of Representatives, 20th District, and each of the U.S. Senators from New York State. Role Call Commissioner Franck – Aye Commissioner Ivins – Aye Mayor Johnson – Aye Commissioner Scirocco – Aye Commissioner Kim – Aye Discussion and Vote: Financial Internal Controls – DPW Commissioner Ivins moved and Commissioner Franck seconded the financial internal controls for the Department of Public Works as presented to the Council . Commissioner Ivins stated these policies will protect the employees of DPW as well as the City. This necessary in light of the recent events and is a written down version of the process that has been put in place since then. He commended DPW in working with his department on this. Page 10 of 17 City Council Meeting 12/2/08 Commissioner Scirocco stated he doesn’t disagree there should be some internal controls but he takes issue with singling out his department with these procedures. The Commissioner of Public Works oversees the Department of Public Works as with the other respective Commissioners and their departments. He wouldn’t tell anyone else how to run their department and the way to do things. They have had meetings on this and left it open-ended. There is an issue with the person who did the job. That fact is that position was cut out of his department and he doesn’t have anyone to do this sort of thing. When the money comes in from the transfer station it gets counted in his department 3 or 4 times. The guy that brings the money in is on overtime. It doesn’t make sense to him to hold on to the money overnight. It makes more sense that he can do his thing at the transfer station, there is a cash register out there, and take the money in a locked bag directly up to Finance and remove his department from this process. He believes that is a safer way to do it. He is not going to support this for those reasons. He would like to have input from the Comptroller’s Office on this. Also, putting a cash register in his department is adding cost to the tax payers that doesn’t have to be there. It doesn’t make sense to him. Commissioner Ivins stated the cash register creates a paper trail. They did talk about the Comptroller’s Office but was told they couldn’t bring them in because the investigation wasn’t finished. This procedure has been ongoing since this happened and appears to be working. The public wants things finished and put in place. Commissioner Scirocco stated he wants something in place too. He isn’t opposed to these controls, but it requires some fine tuning. Commissioner Ivins stated they have been going back and forth. Commissioner Scirocco agreed to something then he changed his mind. We are getting frustrated as they are getting a lot of heat from the public. If Commissioner Scirocco is not going there, then he doesn’t know what to say at this time. Commissioner Scirocco stated again he isn’t opposed to this proposal but thinks it needs fine tuning. He thinks there are thinks there are things they can do that are cost savings such as they shouldn’t have to count the money 3 times. There is a cash register at the transfer station and a receipt there. We need to fine tune this proposal. Commissioner Ivins stated he is willing to pull this item but by the next meeting they are bringing something back. They need to get Commissioner Scirocco to sit down and fine tune it because the public wants them to stop waiting on this. Commissioner Scirocco stated he is in his office all day. If Commissioner Ivins wants to go down to DPW and talk to him than that is fine. He will sit down with his people and put together a proposal and then maybe they can sit down. He doesn’t know if it will be the next meeting or the meeting after. There are some issues they need to discuss regarding controls. Commissioner Kim stated his department would like to have a procedure like this in place as his department handles a lot of cash. He would like to see this policy be an overall of what the City does when it receives cash. His staff has good thoughts about this. His staff has voiced discomfort about walking cash down one flight of stairs and passing prisoners in the hall. We want a cash register in our office. Commissioner Ivins stated their plan was to work with the policy in DPW, tweak it and then share amongst all departments. Commissioner Kim stated there are simple principles. His employees are concerned because of what has happened; they don’t want a hint of suspicion. People are offered a discount if paying cash for a parking ticket. These procedures would be welcomed as long as they have input. Commissioner Scirocco stated he is to the point where he is down 2 employees in his department; one for legal reasons and the is for Civil Service reasons. He can’t put anyone in those positions to do that. Yes, they are doing it now but it is taking away from some of the other stuff these people have to do. There are Page 11 of 17 City Council Meeting 12/2/08 2 people doing the jobs of at least 2 people and now we just pushed another job on those 2 employees. There isn’t a whole lot of time for these people to do this. Commissioner Ivins stated he is pulling this from his agenda at this time. Discussion and Vote: Hiring Freeze Resolution Commissioner Ivins moved and Mayor Johnson seconded to approve the resolution for the hiring freeze as follows: A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SARATOGA SPRINGS, NEW YORK WHEREAS, the economic outlook affecting the City’s fiscal year 2009 is bleak; and WHEREAS, the City of Saratoga Springs is projected to lose revenues such as VLT aid, Aid and Incentives to Municipalities (AIM), sales tax, mortgage tax, and other vital income in 2009 due to economic conditions ; and WHEREAS, the taxpayers of the City of Saratoga Springs cannot afford a double digit tax increase for 2009, when the economic outlook is bleak in all areas of their lives; and WHEREAS, the City Council of the City of Saratoga Springs must mitigate the negative affects of both reduced revenues and economic hardship on taxpayers; NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED as follows: 1. The City will maintain a hiring freeze on full time positions effective December 2, 2008 through December 31, 2009. 2. The Commissioner of the Department must explore other reasonable options, other than refilling the position, before approaching the Council. 3. When a position vacancy arises, the Commissioner in charge of that Department must demonstrate to the Council at a regularly scheduled meeting that the position is essential and therefore should be filled. 4. The City Council must approve by simple majority the filling of each vacancy before any further action is taken. NOW BE IT ALSO RESOLVED: 1. That the City of Saratoga Springs and her City Council are committed to facing the international economic crisis head-on and will act on behalf of the taxpayers of the City of Saratoga Springs in every decision made. Commissioner Ivins stated he brought this up in response to the numerous comments made during the workshops and public sessions. More than one person brought up a hiring freeze. We are not getting rid of anyone else, all we are doing is looking at a position if it becomes vacant and seeing if we can find a better way to do it; if not, the Commissioner can come to the Council. It is highly likely this will be affecting my office. He is not doing this to pick on any one office, just trying to find a better way to make things happen. Commissioner Scirocco stated he understands he may not be doing this to pick on any one particular office, but his budget got hit; $496,188.00 which is the difference between the 2008 budget and the 2009 adopted budget. There are going to be cuts in his department. There will be cuts in services in the City. They will work with what they have. Thankfully they got the $120,000 from Accounts and that helped out a lot. Before we do anything like this, he would like to go over his budget again to see what kind of an impact the adopted budget is going to have on his department. He suggested considering tabling this item as he got hit the worst. There are also issues with Civil Service that have not been considered. A memo was received today from the Civil Service Commission asking each appointing authority for a list of the competitive class positions that are affected by the 2009 budget. He doesn’t have any money in his budget to hire anyone if he wanted to. He would like the time to review the budget to see how it is going to affect him and the employees. Also, things need to be clarified in here, such as full time positions. Do you mean positions that are full time that are current or full time that are in the 2009 budget? Are you talking about existing positions that are in the 2009 budget that are there but funded? Commissioner Ivins gave an example of if someone retires, the Commissioner is to look at whether they can take on that person’s work without hiring/filling that position. If you can’t you come to the Council and justify why you can’t and that you need to fill that position. Therefore, it really has no budget impact with Page 12 of 17 City Council Meeting 12/2/08 what you just did. It is a case by case basis. Can duties be re-assigned, can a couple positions be combined? If not, then you can bring it back to the Council to look at. Commissioner Scirocco asked aren’t they already the appointing authority. Commissioner Ivins stated only for new positions. Commissioner Scirocco asked why someone would take positions that are existing, that you need, and not fill that position. Commissioner Ivins stated he is bringing this forward as a request of the taxpayers. Commissioner Kim stated he doesn’t think this is necessary as Commissioner Ivins already has this power. Under 4.4.8 of the Charter, it states “at anytime during the fiscal year, it appears probable to the Commissioner of Finance that revenues available would be insufficient to meet the amount appropriated, the Commissioner shall report this to the Council without delay, the Commissioner shall indicate the estimated shortfall, the remedial action taken by the Commissioner, and the Commissioner’s recommendations for steps to be taken to eliminate or reduce the shortfall.” You have the authority to tell the Council stop the spending and make cuts. His concern is that this changes the Charter. He agrees that this is what the public wanted him to do. Also, a couple of the contracts may not allow this to happen. Contracts state a timeframe of which Commissioner Kim has to appoint them. Commissioner Ivins agreed he does have the authority to do this according to the Charter. At that point he would be cutting real people with real jobs. This is trying to look at things by attrition. We are looking at vacancies when they occur. This is only a one year proposal, after that this goes away. Commissioner Scirocco stated maybe it would be better for the City to put a Vacancy Review Committee together. You are also looking at legal issues too. He is not going to support this issue. Commissioner Kim stated Commissioner Ivins is right, once you hit that wall we are talking real people. We’ve done it once and it wasn’t easy, we will do it again; we are elected to make those difficult choices. I hope that doesn’t happen, but he thinks it will. He would support and believes the public would support money going towards a manpower study by an objective consultant. That study could result in long term savings. Commissioner Franck stated this resolution is a change from the original one. The public’s intent is that we don’t put any new positions in. He didn’t hear that we shouldn’t hire for vacant positions. There could be different reasons for a vacancy; fired, illness. He doesn’t have a problem supporting a resolution that says we are not going to put in new positions without Council discussing it. He believes in this form of government. He believes when someone leaves, each Commissioner is going to try to rework the position because most of the time the position hasn’t been looked at in many years and the position has changed. His problem is adding people that weren’t in the budget. He suggested pulling the resolution to change a little of the wording. Commissioner Ivins stated as a Council they already have the authority to create or fill a line item that is already zeroed out. The resolution doesn’t need to be done for a line item. Commissioner Franck stated he understands a resolution doesn’t hurt. He appreciated Commissioner Ivins taking the Civil Service part out. Commissioner Ivins stated he will pull the item but wanted to give the Mayor a chance to provide comment. Mayor Johnson stated that he supports it in theory. He thinks the taxpayers are demanding we trim City government where we can trim it. There were good issues raised tonight such as the compliance with the Charter and our form of government. We need to address further from a legal standpoint before we can vote on this tonight. He recommended that this issue be pulled and re-visit at a later date. Page 13 of 17 City Council Meeting 12/2/08 Commissioner Kim asked that the City Attorney look at with the eye towards the existing contracts that we have. Commissioner Ivins pulled this item from his agenda. Discussion and Vote: VLT Resolution (08-241) Commissioner Ivins moved and Commissioner Scirocco seconded the VLT resolution. Commissioner Ivins read the resolution as follows: A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SARATOGA SPRINGS, NEW YORK WHEREAS, In 2002, The Saratoga County Board of Supervisors resolved to allow the introduction of Video Lottery Terminals (VLTs) to be installed at the Saratoga Harness Track, renamed Saratoga Gaming and Raceway; and WHEREAS, the City of Saratoga Springs has received distribution of VLT host community revenues from the New York State budget for each of the subsequent years that the VLTs have been in existence, or a sum now equal to approximately 10% of the entire current City operating budget; and WHEREAS, the Governor of the State of New York has proposed for the 2009-2010 Fiscal Year that the current level of VLT distribution given to the City of Saratoga Springs be reduced by one half of the amount the City received in 2008; and WHEREAS, the City of Saratoga Springs continues to bear the burden of costs associated with hosting a gaming facility within its borders, and the loss of the distribution or any portion thereof will be detrimental to all City taxpayers; NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED as follows: 1. The City strongly urges the Governor of the State of New York to reconsider his proposal of reducing said distribution. 2. The City recommends that legislation be passed by both houses of the Legislature of the State of New York guaranteeing that the distribution to host municipalities continue at the current or a higher level as long as VLTs are located within the borders of and the financial burden remains on host municipalities. 3. The City stands united with and strongly supports the host municipalities and counties facing the same reduction. NOW BE IT ALSO RESOLVED: 1. That a copy of this Resolution, suitably engrossed, be transmitted to the Governor of the State of New York, the Temporary President of the New York State Senate, the Speaker of the New York State Assembly, the Minority Leader of the New York State Assembly and to each member of the New York State Legislature. Commissioner Ivins stated this is another step to continuing fighting as they said they would. Commissioner Scirocco stated in 2000/2001 when he was County Supervisor he voted against the VLTs. Ayes – All Discussion: City Finances Commissioner Ivins announced that they passed the budget last week with a zero percent tax increase. He is not entirely happy as they are taking too much out of their appropriated fund balance. This could cause problems down the line. The taxpayers come first and this is as much of a rainy day as hopefully we will ever see. Fourth quarter tax collection was completed yesterday and will hopefully have the number for the next meeting. Mortgage tax is coming in below budget and the sales tax is slightly behind projections. We are projecting about $66,000 below budget. Projections for how 2008 is going to finish: revenues are $400K higher than the adopted budget; about $1 million more in expenses than was budgeted. This means we are going to be about $600,000 short. We have $365,000 left in the contingency fund which means we are about $235,000 that will have to come from somewhere; probably our reserves. Discussion and Vote: Authorization for Mayor to Sign MVP Gold Renewal (08-242) Page 14 of 17 City Council Meeting 12/2/08 Commissioner Ivins moved and Mayor Johnson seconded to authorize the Mayor to sign the MVP Gold renewal. Commissioner Ivins reported the cost went up from $131 per month to $168 per month. We will have the rest of the insurance renewals for our next meeting. Ayes – All Discussion and Vote: 2009 City Tax Rate (08-243) Commissioner Ivins moved and Commissioner Kim seconded the 2009 City tax rate. Commissioner Ivins stated based upon the budget passed there are no tax raises. Ayes – All PUBLIC WORKS DEPARMENT Discussion and Vote: Street Acceptance for Snow Plowing (08-244) Commissioner Scirocco moved and Commissioner Ivins seconded the approval of Windingbrook Drive, Saddlebrook Drive and Stoneybrook Drive for snow plowing only. Commissioner Scirocco stated that these roads have met the criteria for snow plowing. Ayes -All PUBLIC SAFETY DEPARTMENT Set Public Hearing; Amend Chapter 225-94 of the City Code, Schedule XXIX and Add to Section 225-81 Schedule XVI Commissioner Kim set a public hearing for 6:55 p.m. on December 16, 2008. Discussion and Vote: Authorization for Mayor to Sign Contract with National Grid Commissioner Kim pulled this item from his agenda. Discussion and Vote: Amend Chapter 225-77 of the City Code – Add “Stop” Sign on Newton, North and South @ Division (08-245) Commissioner Kim moved and Commissioner Ivins seconded to amend chapter 225-77 of the City Code to add “stop” signs on Newton, North and South, at Division. Ayes – All Discussion: High Rock Lot Proposals Commissioner Kim pulled this item from his agenda. Announcement: Medal of Honor Recipient Adam Baker a patrol officer with the City of Saratoga Springs will be presented tomorrow with the Medal of Honor for his heroism in the struggle with the patient from Four Winds. He was stabbed by the patient Page 15 of 17 City Council Meeting 12/2/08 and continued to arrest this patient even though he was wounded. He will be featured in the Mohawk Valley Community College 2009 calendar which honors various recipients of the Medal of Honor award. He extended his congratulations with Adam Baker on his award. Announcement: RFP for Emergency Services Commissioner Kim advised they worked within his department to create an RFP for emergency services. They do have some questions on the RFP and will need to work through this with the Accounts Office. This RFP is to outsource emergency services. SUPERVISORS Joanne Yepsen VLT Revenue for County and City Supervisor Yepsen advised in 2002 the County Board of Supervisors approved the VLTs with the purpose of saving the harness racing industry. It was implied, not promised that the host city would receive a portion of the proceeds. They secured 75% for the City and 25% for the County. The 50% proposed cut in VLT distribution is devastating to this City and will burden the tax payers or cut services. They lobbied several members of the Assembly and Senate. The misperception of wealth in Saratoga County and Saratoga Springs is incorrect. The medium income is $53,000. The cost incurred by this city as the host city will impact the budget for this city much more than the County. If there is going to be a reduction, do it gradually. Hopefully we will not hear on December 16th about a cut when the Governor proposes his budget. Announcement: Next Sustainable Saratoga Meeting Supervisor Yepsen announced the next meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, December 10th at 7:00 – 9:00 p.m. in the Music Hall on the 3rd floor of City Hall. She thanked Deputy Mayor Shauna Sutton for attending the last meeting and hopes to see her at the next meeting. Announcements: December 12th is the next fundraiser for the Frederick Allen Lodge at the Parting Glass. Tickets are on sale at a variety of places. A public hearing will be held to look at the 2009 County Budget at 5:30 tomorrow. Matt Veitch Update: Geyser Road Trail Supervisor Veitch reported a press conference was held on 11/20 to announce the Southwest Neighborhood Association has hired Greenman Petersen of Albany to do a survey and study to start this trail. It has been a 4 year process. A couple of new businesses have offered their financial support since the press conference. Informational: Public Hearing – Foundry Company Empire Zone Application Supervisor Veitch announced there will be a public hearing at the Board of Supervisors tomorrow at 5:00 regarding Empire Zone; the foundry company AMD. A special meeting will be held between public hearings to vote on that. ADJOURNMENT Mayor Johnson moved and Commissioner Scirocco seconded to adjourn the meeting. Page 16 of 17 City Council Meeting 12/2/08 Ayes – All There being no further business, Mayor Johnson adjourned the meeting at 9:25 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Lisa Ribis Clerk Approved: 12/16/08 Vote: 5 - 0 Page 17 of 17